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Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Grated Beet & Carrot Salad with Radish-Miso Dressing

This Asian inspired salad dressing is vinegar-free and citrus-free; two ingredients that are often hard to omit from salad dressings. I received and email from a reader asking for Elimination diet recipes that don't contain any fruit.

Finally, I had the idea to use radishes! This fabulous salad dressing also contains Adzuki Bean Miso, a soy-free and gluten-free miso available from the South River Miso Company. I demonstrated this dressing and salad yesterday evening for an Elimination Diet Class I taught at one of our local co-ops. It was a hit and I am sure you will enjoy it too.

For those of you on the Elimination Diet, how are you feeling? We have received so many emails in the last week regarding this diet I am finding it hard to keep up with! Instead of replying to you individually (since there are many similar questions) I thought I would answer one in each of my next few posts.

A few of you have asked us about protein, specifically animal protein. Some of you have asked if it is possible to up the animal protein content during the beginning of the diet. If you experience blood sugar dysregulation or are pre-diabetic, then following the 2-day detox might be difficult and could pose more problems. We suggest you add in wild caught salmon, healthy fats (like avocado, coconut butter/oil, chia seeds) and crunchy raw salads like this one. These foods pose the least possible reaction, while adding in anti-inflammatory compounds to assist in healing. I hope this will help some of you so you can have the best and most beneficial elimination diet experience!

Grated Beet and Carrot Salad with Radish-Miso Dressing

This is a Phase 2 Elimination Diet recipe. After making this salad a few times I thought it would be delicious with the addition of about one cup of cooked arame or hijiki. These two sea vegetables are rich in minerals, specifically iodine. I added leftover cooked salmon to my salad today for lunch and it was fantastic. Enjoy this dressing recipe with my salad idea below or create your own!

1 head leaf lettuce, rinsed, spun, and torn into pieces

1 large beet, peeled and grated

3 to 4 large carrots, grated

1/2 to 1 cup chopped cilantro

Dressing:

5 small radishes

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup Adzuki Bean Miso

1/4 cup water

1 clove garlic

1/2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled

Place the lettuce into a large salad bowl and top with the grated beets, carrots, and cilantro.

To make the dressing add all ingredients to your blender and blend until smooth and creamy. the dressing will be a slight pink color. Dressing can be kept in a glass jar in the fridge for up to a week. Source: www.NourishingMeals.com

About the Author

Alissa Segersten holds a Bachelor's of Science in Nutrition from Bastyr University. She is the founder of Whole Life Nutrition, the mother of five children, a whole foods cooking instructor, professional recipe developer, and cookbook author. She is passionate about helping others find a diet that will truly nourish them, and offers elimination diet recipes, healthy gluten-free recipes, paleo and vegan recipes, as well as tips for feeding your family a nourishing, whole foods diet. Alissa is the author of two very popular gluten-free, whole foods cookbooks and guidebooks: The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook and Nourishing Meals. She is also the co-author of The Elimination Diet book. Connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram!

If you live in the Whatcom county/Bellingham area then you can find this miso at Terra Organica in the Public Market on Cornwall street. I am not sure where else to find it. South River's chickpea miso might work as a replacement.

ok...i'm on day 3 and am feeling woozy: very ditzy, tired and worn. i haven't tried the salmon yet and am hoping that phase 1 foods will help boost me up. anyone else out there feeling the same? any suggestions?

Anon - Eat regularly, even if it is just a green apple. It is totally normal to feel this way after a day of green smoothies. There is a very broad range of feelings with this diet; some feel fantastic the first week and some feel awful. :)

Katie - Penzey's spices are gluten-free (but unfortunately not organic). I buy some in glass jars and others in larger quantities which I use to refill my my old jars. :)

Ali, you and I are on the same page, seriously, everything you've been making lately is so similar to what I've been making in my own kitchen! The azuki yam hash ,this salad, wow, i think we are totally food connected... Looks great, as always - great dressing idea with the radishes. And I just cracked open a fresh jar of the miso today, and planned on making a salad dressing for my salad at dinner tonight. Weird, I tell you, weird. :)

Okay, I'll admit that I was a bit skeptical about using radishes in salad dressing. Radishes *and* miso just sounded a little too different, so I didn't make it until I happened to notice that our market does carry South River Adzuki miso. In need of a new food for phase one, I decided to give it a go, and I am now addicted to it. I like it more than any other salad dressing I've ever made. The beet/carrot/greens/cilantro mix with it is just divine with a bit of cooked salmon. I love-love-love it. It's a good thing we've got lots of radishes growing! :-)

Welcome to my blog!

Hi! My name is Alissa Segersten and I've had a love of healthy food and cooking since the age of 10. I have my degree in Nutrition from Bastyr University and am the author of three {gluten-free} food and nutrition books. When I was pregnant with my first daughter in 2001, I diligently began writing down my recipes because so many people would ask for them! Some of these recipes appeared in my first book, The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook. I now have 5 children and am passionate about educating them about our food system so they can make the most informed choices as they grow up and are exposed to a world of processed, chemical-laden foods. Join me in my mission of helping to support families with nourishing meals! Read more about me here.